iv PREFACE 



sliorter course does not cover many more topics than are dealt 

 with in Bergen's Elements or Foundations of Botany, and may be 

 used with either of those books. 



Part I consists mainly of studies on the gross anatomy and 

 tlie histology of seed plants, together with a set of separately 

 numbered experiments to illustrate some of the main principles 

 of plant physiology. 



Part II deals Avith type studies of spore plants, outlining the 

 evolution and classification of the plant kingdom. Here will also 

 be found studies on the gametophyte phases and the life histories 

 of seed plants to show their relationships to the spore plants. 

 Part II is introduced by outlines on the plant cell to illustrate 

 the chief principles of growth and reproduction. 



Part III is concerned with a series of laboratory and field 

 studies which may serve to offer at least an outline for the 

 treatment of ecology as a scientific subject. Profound ecological 

 studies demand far more knowledge of taxonomy, plant phys- 

 iology, meteorology, the physics and chemistry of soils, and 

 kindred subjects than can be required of beginners in botany. 

 However, the authors believe that it is quite possible to illustrate, 

 even to beginners, something of the kind of quantitative discus- 

 sion of variations in environment and the responses of plants 

 to changed conditions, which must distinguish the ecology of 

 the future. 



Hearty acknowledgments for valuable suggestions are due to 

 A. T. Bell, F. E. Clements, W. N. Olute, W. F. Ganong, B. Gruen- 

 berg. Miss Lillian J. MacRae, G. J. Peirce, and R. B. Wylie, who 

 liave wholly or in part read the manuscript or the proofs. 



J. Y. B. 



('AMHKiiKiE, March, 1907 ^ ^i j) 



